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Hovering half-way between being serious and being funny--and enjoying every minute of its crazy balancing act--this is a great movie. A real movie.
Given the rarity of good films made in Hollywood these days, I had no reasonable expectations, statistically, for a good film here. So I went into the cinema and hoped for the best, but expected nothing.
Imagine my surprise when I found that "Abe Lincoln" is 1. a well-acted period film with great sets and costumes, 2. a wildly paced action special effects feast, 3. an effectively witty self-satirical historical rewrite and 4. a gruesomely graphic horror flick! I don't see this as a perfect film--it's got flaws. But the handful of flaws that bother me, I can ignore, because this is a film made with a joyous spirit, and the overall structure works well. I've seen this five times in the theatre at this point. I haven't seen a film that many times theatrically in over twenty years! I had read the book and enjoyed it, but had no idea what the film version might be like. As has been noted elsewhere, the book and the movie are two completely different things: The book delivers a more intellectual experience, and the film delivers a more emotional experience. Writer Seth Grahame-Smith has tailored his book into something simpler and less grim for the screen. I think the decision to make the film a fun action movie was a smart one. It's a wild ride.
History is transformed into mythic fantasy in this yarn detailing the never-before-told story of Lincoln's lifelong battles with supernatural evil. Indeed, the opening words of narration, "History prefers legends to men," express the awareness that events are altered in retrospection, to suit our thirst for myth, for purity of rights and wrongs. But the "rewrite" that ensues shows us the maddest symbolic extremes. Is this a commentary about America's changing self-image? An indictment of our entertainment culture's increasing obsession with simplistic heroes, loud noises and glorified bloodshed? A condemnation that is strangely exemplary of the problem? Without winking, this film makes many sly jabs at the "typical," common-denominator, American action film.
It's simultaneously silly and profoundly moving--a film so strange that many scratch their heads, but in time, I think, it will come to be regarded as a classic of genre cinema. In this searing mixture of the real and the unreal, we witness scenes of outlandish fantasy as well as scenes of a young nation being shaped through moral and political conflict. A wide spectrum of emotions is expressed. Sweeping vistas, vital romance, epic battles: It might reasonably be said that this is the "Gone with the Wind" of vampire films. There is an ecstasy of absurdity. It's fun because it's just plain crazy, but in an expensive, lavish, eloquent, opulent way.
Yes, like "Sleepy Hollow" before it, this one brings back memories of the Hammer classic horror films, which, though violent, were elegant and refined, with beautifully written dialogue. It's a really refreshing change from the crudity and brutal excesses seen in horror films of recent years. This one goes down smooth.
The humor here is pretty subtle, most of the time. This film suggests to the viewer that one of America's greatest Presidents was actually also a fearsome, axe-swinging, monster-slaughtering badass. The story of how all this came to be is lovingly presented as the most serious thing in the world, despite its patent ridiculousness. This "straight-faced" approach is really the key to the humor, and achieves a smart, sophisticated effect.
The Civil War-era story links the intended secession of the Southern states with the rise to power of vampires in those states; so vampirism becomes a metaphor for slavery and man's general inhumanity to himself. The typical horror film focuses on primal fears, and never on issues of morality; so while largely a horror film, this seeks to turn some basic principles of the horror film sideways. The meddling does not stop there. It is true that the story treats its history elements as "flexible material" to be modified as necessary for storytelling purposes (is this unexpected for a film with a title like "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter"?). But it is also true that the audience needs to be familiar with the American Civil War, Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, and various other historical personages, in order to comprehend the story and get the jokes. Perhaps it's a sad thing, but whimsical fantasies featuring historical figures (like this film, and the first "Bill and Ted" film) are most useful in this day and age for acquainting audiences with these figures in the first place. Inaccurate? Sure. But it's still comprehensible only to literate audiences.
The film is a creative entity--and, like some of my favorite satire-comedies, seeks to go vigorously against the grain of convention, so audience members expecting the normal "action film product" are likely to be confused (and when I watched it in theatres, a good many viewers were certainly confused!). "Abe Lincoln" thinks outside the box and then axe-murders the box. If you happen to be inside the box, well, you are in trouble. But sharp viewers who get the joke are rewarded with a stimulating experience.
While serving up gaggles of vicious monsters, it unfolds an old-school "birth of the hero" story that recalls the tone of earlier Technicolor Hollywood epics and historical biopics. "Abe Lincoln" delivers much, much more than the basic requirements. This is a popcorn film of a higher order.
Many laughs, scares, and thrilling moments. Yeah. I loved it.
--Rodd Matsui
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Customer reviews
Abe Lincoln Vampire HUNTER - A Bloody Good Time!
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2018
I had seen this movie when it first came out on video and was kind of surprised honestly at how good it was. During the craze of vampires (Twilight, etc.) and Abraham Lincoln biographies, Seth Grahame-Smith created a story blending these two things together after his success with Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (which took a lot longer to get a movie and is nowhere near as good). For $5, this was absolutely worth another watch and adding to the collection as a fan of horror flicks.I've read parts of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and it's definitely much drier than the film is. During the special features and movie commentary, you hear the author explain how the idea of this book basically spawned the film. He wrote most of the book while getting the film started up at Fox and is why there's more action & the like in the movie. They also added a lot of the action scenes and even a few of the characters to give the movie more of a story that a viewing audience can follow. They do this well without damaging what already existed for the movie, especially because the book was being written during this process.This film is what happens when you take a good, corny idea seriously and play the balancing act perfectly. The director does a fantastic job of making this a non-stop action/horror thrill-ride, but also not straying too far away from the legend of Lincoln. I particularly love the way they tie in race issues and slavery to the overall vampire story, it's quite inventive and doesn't really pull away from either subject. There's a very fine line here with this either being too silly or too serious and everyone involved seemed to have a good grasp on what this film was. I think Ben Walker does a fantastic job of making Abraham Lincoln believable in this context, and really capturing what makes this movie tick.Something like this easily ends up sitting in the bargain bins, but it's entirely worth the purchase if you're even somewhat interested. There's a lot of great talent in the movie, including a few familiar faces. Great character actors including Anthony Mackie (who in the commentary they say isn't "quite a star yet" and boy didn't they find out), Rufus Sewell, & Dominic Cooper. Also, Axe Fu is quite the treat to watch on screen. There's a lot of CGI in the film but it's done really well and some 5+ years later doesn't feel completely outdated. Even the director's signature speed ramps do not come off as annoying or out of place.A good helping of special features here, though most of them use the same clips when talking about different aspects of the film which is kind of boring. The feature commentary on disc is always good, though it's from the writer of the screenplay and author of the novel, not the director. Benjamin Walker was interesting to listen to about his perspective on the role, and the director Timur Bekmambetov definitely has an eye for stories like this one. Case was in good condition, came with both Blu-ray disc and DVD disc (which doubles as a digital copy). I believe this came with a digital code too as the movie is in my MoviesAnywhere, but I cannot remember.
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2018
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